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The Manchuria Bridgehead: Anglo-Russian Rivalry and the Imperial Railways of North China, 1897—1902

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Arthur Lewis Rosenbaum
Arthur Lewis Rosenbaum
Affiliation:
Claremont Men's College
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Extract

The Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902 committed Great Britain to the defense of Manchuria, an area of the Chinese Empire which the Foreign Office and Cabinet never had considered to be vital to Britain's strategic or commercial interests. In the years preceding the alliance, British policy in Manchuria was weak and indecisive. The government consistently refused to run the risk of war and was genuinely concerned about the unacceptable level of tension generated by half-hearted attempts to maintain some semblance of the open door. Successive attempts to negotiate a diplomatic settlement that would provide a degree of protection for British trade while acknowledging Russia's special political and economic rights were wrecked by the uncompromising views of Sergie Witte. Under these circumstances, it was only natural that Britain should give serious thought to abandoning Manchuria.

Type
Articles
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , February 1976 , pp. 41 - 64
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1976

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References

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59 F.O. 405/96, No. 135, Tel. 128, Salisbury, to MacDonald, , 15 October 1898. The ‘strong representations’ were made in Berlin in order to pressure Waldersee to turn over the I.R.N.C.'s intra-mural lines to the British. Throughout the crisis, Japanese military authorities in China had supported the British positionGoogle Scholar.

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63 F.O. 405/98, No. 64, Tel. 221, Satow, to Lansdowne, , 11 December 1900. I have accepted the statement of the British representative of the British and Chinese Corporation, Hillier, that Witte initiated the discussions. However, Russian sources claim that Hillier approached Witte but was turned down because his asking price was too high. However, it seems unlikely that Witte would reject a deal for a line that would give Russia uncontested control of Manchuria. For the Russian side see Malozemoff, Russian Far Eastern Policy, p. 148Google Scholar.

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71 Ibid. It also should be noted that the Russian claims were for exclusive rights, not preferential rights, and Britain had steadfastly refused to acknowledge exclusive rights which would violate British treaty rights. Moreover, a number of the provisions of the proposed Manchurian convention specifically were directed against the I.R.N.C. This was especially embarrassing because in January, the British bondholders had been informed, ‘that the interests of the bondholders of the railway are, in the main, identical with those of British forces in China.’ See F.O. 405/102, No. 70, Bertie to British and Chinese Corporation; No. 72, Godley to Foreign Office, 9 January 1901.

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